Code Lyoko Animal Arc 1: Feeling Human
by AmayaZilla
Summary: Decades have passed since XANA's fall but when a young boy loses his mother things change for the worst. He gets shipped off to his father and sister only to find that his father is a mad scientist bent on making the 'perfect human' by merging human and animal DNA. Meanwhile a young genius must struggle with her own darkness by putting the boy she loves in danger. More inside...
1. Prologue

**Opening/Summary: **_Decades have passed since XANA's fall but when a young boy loses his mother things change for the worst. He gets shipped off to his father and sister only to find that his father is a mad scientist bent on making the 'perfect human' by merging human and animal DNA. The madness seems harmless enough, after all only one experiment even survived but when a virtual world is found through an old computer, the experiments become a success and his sister becomes one. A failed trip to Lyoko leaves the boy half-dead with the swirling darkness closing in and the question is raised, "Is he still human?" Meanwhile a young genius must struggle with her own darkness by putting the boy she loves in danger. Kadic hasn't seen the last of XANA yet but are the new Lyoko Warriors up for the challenge?_

* * *

**Prologue**

_The room was dark, the only light coming from a single candle burning on the bedside table. A young boy sat dozing in a chair while nearby his mother moaned and screamed in her sleep._

_The mother was deathly sick and had been for weeks now, always tossing and turning and making noises. Now though she was too weak to even pull the blanket up and keep out the night chill._

_The noises had become a natural occurrence in the boy's life until suddenly they stopped._

_The boy's eyes snapped opened and he glanced around for a moment, wondering what had awoken him. After a moment he tentively called out "Momma?"_

_No answer came out of the darkness and he slowly got up and padded over to his mother's bedside. "Momma?" he repeated as he gently reached out and touched her hand, it was limp and cold._

_"__Momma! Don't leave me, please don't leave…." He was crying and screaming now, wanting what he already knew to be a lie "Momma!"_

_His screams brought the nurses in from their post in the hallway and one of them gently forced him away from his mother "She's gone sweetie."_

_"__No!" the boy suddenly twisted away from the nurse and forced his way back to the bedside "Don't leave me, come back….."_

_"__Sweetie, come here now….there was nothing we could do…nothing anyone could have done."_

_He twisted to see that the nurse had followed him but right now he didn't care, he didn't care about anything. He reached out and grabbed his mother's hand again, tears sliding down his checks as the light faded from his eyes._

* * *

_The young cat-girl Ryuu watched her brother curiously from her perch atop one of the work tables, she had been hoping for someone to play with but this little boy seemed half dead._

_She shivered when she felt Doku's eyes and glanced back at the snake-girl's cage to see that they weren't on her but her brother. 'What's going on here?'_

_She shivered even worse when she saw Ashal turn and stare at the snake-girl without a single trace of emotion. 'Is something wrong with him? He just got here….'_

_She watched him as the week dragged on, more curious still because not once did he speak. Instead he just walked around dull eyed with his little black kitten following at his heels._

_By the end of the week though she was forced to go back to Lyoko, the virtual world her dad had found earlier that month, and she lost track of time roaming the mountain sector she called home._

_It wasn't til days later that her dad contacted her saying he planned to join her on Lyoko in about a day and was bringing her brother._

_The next day Ryuu made her way out to the spot they were supposed to appear and paused to stare out at the digital sea below._

_An hour passed then another before her father finally appeared but he was alone._

_"__What happened? Where's Ashal?" Ryuu asked, glancing around._

_"__It got him, I couldn't do anything."_

_Ryuu studied him, that didn't sound right and she knew it "What got him?"_

_"__The darkness, the swirling darkness of limbo"_

_"__Then can't we at least send him back? Isn't there time?" She turned to head to the nearest tower but stopped when her father grabbed her arm and held her in place._

_"__You can't, it's already too late."_

_"__He's my brother, what have you done to him?" She struggled, trying to free her wrist._

_Her father was shaking his head, a glint of madness in his eyes "He was supposed to disappear, just disappear…"_

_"__Let go! We have to do something!" she shouted, finally breaking his grip._

_As he released her though he lost his footing and fell off the ledge, the only thing keeping him from the sea below was a single hand gripping the edge._

_Ryuu stared down at him, snarling "I won't let you destroy him, I won't…." Then she turned and ran off towards the nearest tower, the only sound behind her a scream as he finally lost his grip._

* * *

_Ashal's eyes were closed tight and all he felt was the black kitten in his arms. Slowly he opened his eyes to nothing but endless white around him._

_'__Where is this? This isn't the world dad showed me…' he whimpered, the first sound he had made in a long time._

_Suddenly the endless white was broken by a section of black mist that slowly swirled closer to him._

_He whimpered again and tried to move back, hugging the kitten closer as the darkness neared._

_"__Do not fear…" the voice was chilling yet it seemed to calm Ashal and he stopped moving to watch the blackness._

_"__Do not fear…" the voice repeated, soothing his worries and fear "I will not hurt you….we will both escape from this place…."_

_After what seemed like hours Ashal collapsed out of the scanner into the familiar lab, the kitten against one hand and the darkness floating above._

_"__Do something!" he finally screamed at the darkness, rising onto his hands and knees as the kitten found her paws._

_The darkness swirled a moment longer before condensing together to create a body. Finally a little black boy with shaggy brown hair and blood red eyes crouched before Ashal and the kitten._

_They stared at each other for several minutes before the boy of darkness finally spoke, his voice an icy chill in the already cold air. "I have already saved you and you have in turn freed me….if I do anything now you will have to repay the favor…."_

_"__I don't care! Destroy it, destroy all of it!" Ashal growled, staring right into his eyes._

_The darkness boy smiled, revealing pointed fangs, then vanished as the darkness separated again "As you wish"_

_Ashal screamed out of pain this time as the darkness swirled around him, he grabbed the kitten and held her close as it began to swirl faster and his own eyes flashed blood red._

_The ground shook as the darkness began to laugh, an evil sound that echoed in the small lab. Then one of the scanners exploded, sending chucks everywhere though none touched Ashal._

_Ashal smiled at the destruction and in that moment the last of the light left his eyes._

_The darkness laughed again as another scanner exploded, this time starting a small fire as a stack of papers near the scanner burst into flame._

_Ashal began to laugh himself as the fire spread and the last scanner exploded. By this time the whole room was crawling with flames eager to lick at anything they could reach._

_Then the computer exploded and the ground shook again as a section of the roof caved-in behind Ashal._

_The darkness condensed into its boy form again and studied him "It is done; soon this place shall be nothing more than a memory."_

_Ashal turned to look at him, quiet now as his eyes returned to their normal blue._

_The darkness boy smiled then, revealing his fangs again "And now I will take my payment…" The boy jumped at him, dissolving back into the dark fog._

_Ashal watched him, the small spark returning to his dull eyes a moment before he blacked out._


	2. Chapter 1: XANA's Return

**Chapter 1: XANA's Return**

Six years after the incident at his father's lab Ashal was sitting in a small cramped room in the back of his aunt's mansion. Dusk was sitting on the desk beside him, watching while he sketched scenes from the lab.

A knock on the door made him growl as he glanced up. "Go away!" he shouted.

Of course his oldest cousin Tina ignored him and opened the door anyway. She was only eight but almost as bad as Aunt Elna.

"Mom says you have to come get your food now or you'll go hungry tonight." Tina said as she stepped into the room, followed by six-year-old Abigail, or Abby as she was called.

Ashal sighed and put his sketch book out of their reach before he and Dusk forced their way out of the room. Living in a house with nothing but girls was frustrating enough but the fact that his aunt hated him made it worse.

As he entered the kitchen he spotted his aunt sitting at the table feeding the five-month-old Elizabeth, Lizzy. She was a tall, unnatural woman with dyed red hair and strange faded purple eyes. She had plenty of money from the fancy dress and jewelry shop she owned in the nearby city but she hated men and had divorced her husband before Lizzy was born for unknown reasons.

Now she turned and glared at him, her unnatural purple eyes revealing every scrap of hatred she had for him. "I've found a nice little school to ship you off to just outside of Paris." She was blunt, the one thing he liked about her.

"Really?" He kept the anger out of his voice as he rummaged in the fridge and began making a sandwich, he would much rather be shipped off somewhere than spend another year locked in the back room.

"Yes, it's called Kadic Academy. I'm sure you'll have the chance to interact with children your own age."

He sighed, she was referring to the kids he had started hanging with any time he could get outside. They were all years older than him and his aunt loved to call them the 'bad crowd.' It wasn't his fault no one else lived anywhere near this country mansion of hers.

"You're going to go, this is your last chance Ash."

"Don't call me that." He growled and turned to glare at her, she might have been his mother's sister but they were two completely different people "I'll go or whatever, when?"

Aunt Elna shook her head and went back to feeding Lizzy "The bus runs at 6a.m."

_'__No warning huh?'_ He sighed again and grabbed his sandwich before retreating back to his room with Dusk; thankfully the girls were gone now.

* * *

Cathy Bergner stood at the bottom of the elevator staring at the supercomputer before her. She wasn't sure what had led her to this old factory but she was glad she had come.

_'__I wonder if it works.'_ Her hand hovered over the power switch as she studied the massive piece of technology. _'Come on, don't be a wimp now.'_

She yanked the switch up and gasped as the supercomputer flashed to life in front of her. _'This is amazing, how long has this thing been down here?'_

She dashed back to the elevator and went up two floors to the Lab, almost breathless as she rushed to the interface.

The screen blinked to life as she sat down and soon a thin line of code was scrolling across it.

_'__What is this? I hope my coding skills aren't rusty…'_ Cathy began typing away at the computer, pulling up program after program of data until a video screen opened up and shut everything else down.

_A boy who couldn't be more than seventeen appeared on the video screen, his blonde hair a mess and his glasses falling off his face as he adjusted the screen "Is it working yet Aelita?"_

_"__Yes Jeremy but we'd better hurry." a girl's voice in the background replied._

_The boy nodded then and turned back to the screen, resetting his glasses as he did so "I had hoped we wouldn't have to do this but there is evidence that XANA is not dead. If he should awaken again then this supercomputer is vital to the safety of the world."_

Cathy jerked back from the screen as she felt a presence at her shoulder and turned to see a ghostly shadow hovering behind her "Wha-?"

Before she could finish her sentence the shadow reached out for her and she had the sudden feeling of being suffocated.

Meanwhile the video continued to play on the screen behind her, only the words vaguely ringing in her head.

_"__It has to be protected from XANA's ghost, he could easily use it to regain his power!" the boy's voice seemed louder now._

_"__Jeremy, watch out!" the girl's voice shouted and the video suddenly went static._

Cathy collapsed to her knees, her eyes blurring as she tried to fight whatever it was that wanted her. But no sooner than she tried did the shadow take over and her eyes flashed with the sign of XANA.

"Finally" the voice was not Cathy's but XANA's and it held a chilly echo to it "This will be the real ending."


	3. Chapter 2: Tempting Darkness

**Chapter 2: Tempting Darkness**

Ashal stumbled off the bus into the quiet city, his head ringing as Dusk stepped out beside him. '_I'm going to kill whoever just turned that thing on…ugh.'_

He moved away from the bus stop, glad no one was out at this hour and collapsed against the wall of a nearby alley. As he moved his skin flashed from normal to grey, XANA's old virus finding roots with its master's revival.

_'__As if dad's virus wasn't bad enough…that old fool never even realized what he was playing with.'_ The boy's nails elongated into claws and his teeth began to sharpen as the fox DNA activated in response to the virus.

"Don't worry, the only one controlling you is me" a chilly voice growled beside Ashal and he turned slightly to make out the darkness's human form.

"Go away Demon" the words came out as a growl and Ashal buried his face in his hands as he attempted to fight off the virus.

Dusk meowed nervously beside him, her eyes focused on the shadow boy as she kneaded the alley floor.

"Jeez, you still don't trust me? Doesn't matter since we're linked for life" the darkness replied before dissipating back into his usual fog form.

Ashal growled in response, moving deeper into the alley's shadows to avoid the eyes of passersby. '_Stupid virus, stupid lyoko, why would someone turn on that supercomputer? At least with lyoko shut off…'_

The thought remained unfinished as Ashal lost his grip on the wall and landed hard on his chest, barely conscious as another attack racked his body.

Dusk meowed again; alarmed as she circled around him but there was nothing she could do but wait.

* * *

Cathy collapsed onto her bed that night, back in control of herself for the moment. '_Ugh, the trick worked but there's nothing else I can do. What good does remembering it do if I can't stop it?'_

Her computer flashed to life at that moment and she tossed a blanket at it to hide XANA's symbol. '_No rest for the weary huh? How many times am I going to relive this one day?'_

She felt the shadow tickling across her arms but could do nothing to stop it.

Her own consciousness retreated as XANA resumed control, the only thing she could do was watch helplessly as she was marched back to the factory and forced to program a return to the past for the second time.

Cathy's eyes snapped open as she awoke in her bed, the time and date the same as the last time she had awoken from XANA's clutches.

And again she had no choice but to go through the school day as if everything was normal, fearing the evening hours when XANA would return.

As she sat in first hour science she stared at Ryan across the room, he was her secret crush and so strong and handsome.

Cathy shook the thoughts away and glanced down at her notebook, but she still wondered if he could help and if she could bring herself to tell him.

_'__Why would he look twice at me? He only even knows me because of all the gossip around school…'_

She lurched suddenly in her desk; her head aching as she nearly lost consciousness. _'This happened last time too but it's getting worse. Is this because of the return trips or XANA?'_

_'__Ugh…'_ Her mind slipped again as her consciousness faded, finding herself trapped in the dark corridor again.

_'__Not again…not now…' _but she could only wander the dark corridors of her mind now, hoping she could escape before it was too late.

* * *

Ryan turned around as he heard a thump from somewhere behind him and spotted the track star Catherine collapsed. His hand was the first to shoot up as the teacher took in the scene.

"Can I take Cathy to the infirmary?" he asked when the teacher acknowledged him, already moving back to scatter the onlookers.

"Yes, yes, that's fine. Come back to class as soon as you are finished there." the teacher replied, seemingly baffled as she turned to resume class.

Ryan carefully slung one of Cathy's arms around his shoulders and lifted her to her feet, grunting slightly from the dead weight as the other students returned to their seats.

He maneuvered carefully through the classroom and out into the hall, half dragging the unconscious girl as he made his way to the infirmary.


	4. Chapter 3: Two Sides

**Chapter 3: Two Sides**

"Looks like we're doing this again" the shadowy voice whispered beside Ashal.

Ashal grunted, staring out the bus window as his journey to Kadic was restarted once again "He's getting stronger Demon, can't you be useful for once?"

Dusk meowed loudly then, flexing her claws at the other people on the bus as they turned to give the boy weird looks for apparently talking to himself.

Most of them redirected their gazes to eye the black cat nervously before facing forward again.

The darkness smirked at the exchange, holding back a full chuckle as he turned his attention back to Ashal "What am I supposed to do? Lyoko's not my problem anymore"

"It's mine apparently, which also makes it yours." Ashal replied, lowering his voice to keep from getting any more weird looks "How many times have we done this now?"

"Today? I think we're on round a hundred fifty-two but I might have lost a few after we topped twenty"

"Ugh" Ashal muttered, fighting back an attack from the virus while he leaned back in the seat "Do something this time or I will kill myself"

"As if I'd let you" the darkness muttered in response but he still watched the human warily "I can't do anything but my rival should be awake by now…"

* * *

Lights flashed across a tower in the desert sector of Lyoko, dancing up and down the tower before retreating inside. The lights began to condense on the upper platform of the tower, taking on the shape of a tall, lithe angel with near translucent white wings.

She stepped up to the center of the platform and opened the interface as she felt the presence from her rival. _'The darkness has escaped into the real world and XANA has reawakened…'_

She moved through various windows on the interface, searching out a connection to the real world. _'I must do as I was programed to…XANA must be stopped at all costs and only I hold the keys to his defeat…'_

A window suddenly opened, a profile set on a boy called Ryan Beullas.

_'__Why is this boy here? He has no connection to the supercomputer…'_ She raised her hand, palm up, and a holographic image of the boy appeared over the interface. _'He is untrained but I suppose he will do…there is much light in him…'_

The image and interface both disappeared as she turned around and raised her arms to the data walls of the tower _'Seek this boy out and protect him…the first thing we must do is neutralize the time reversions…'_

* * *

Ryan blinked open his eyes slowly and shifted to see the clock, wondering why he was up so early. _'That was a weird dream…but I can't really remember…'_

He shook his head and got dressed before stepping out into the hall, still not really sure what was going on but his instinct told him to find Cathy.

"What's up Ray, I didn't think you usually got up this early. You got military drills or something?"

Ryan glanced up as he stepped out into the courtyard and spotted the Walkner twins watching him.

"Very funny Lucy but I was actually looking for Cathy" he replied as he padded across the courtyard toward them.

"The track star? Haven't seen her in a while" Devin replied, taking his sister's video camera and switching it on.

"Cut that out Dev, I'm not going to be your next scoop" Ryan grumbled, turning to walk away.

"I think I saw Cathy out in the park about an hour ago, she was acting a little strange though." Lucy finally answered, taking her video camera back and shutting it off before following Ryan.

"And what were you doing in the park?" Ryan smirked, already knowing the answer. She was known to go out before dawn to feed her pet hawk.

"Doesn't matter" Devin defended his sister as he caught up to them "You got your clue to find your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend" Ryan muttered, turning his back on the twins as he headed towards the park "I doubt she even remembers that…"

"But you do" Lucy replied, her voice softer as though she were nervous about broaching the subject.

"It was a long time ago…anyway, where did you see her?"

"It looked like she was heading for that old manhole…she kept muttering something about a factory…"

Ryan paused as they located the old manhole and stared down at it "It's still covered, are you sure it even opens anymore?"

"It can't be that hard to close from the inside" Lucy replied while Devin bent down and moved the cover out of the way "Opens easy enough."

"Humph" Ryan muttered, sliding into the manhole and grabbing the ladder before glancing back up at them "Why are you following me anyway?"

Lucy shrugged and shooed him down so she could follow "We're friends right? We can't possibly let you go on such a dangerous mission alone"

"Who knows, your girlfriend could be a crazy psychopath who just wants to lure you off campus" Devin added, replacing the cover to the manhole before dropping down beside them.

Ryan glared at Devin before turning to follow the walkway of the sewer, again following some unexplainable instinct.

"Did I say the wrong thing?" Devin asked, turning to look at his sister but she just shook her head and followed Ryan.

"Jeez" Devin muttered, following behind them as they navigated the walkways and ledges of the sewer "Well do you even know where we're going?"

"There" Ryan replied, pointing to a ladder ahead of them that hung down in front of a metal grate.

"Well we can't go any further this way anyway" Lucy muttered, peering through the grate while Ryan began to climb the ladder.

Once he was up far enough she began her own climb and her brother followed behind her. At the top they stepped out into the early morning sunlight in the middle of an old bridge.

"Hey I know this river" Lucy called, padding to the edge of the bridge as she looked down at the river rushing by below.

"And that factory?" Devin asked as Ryan started towards the old building.

"Huh?" Lucy muttered, turning to follow her brother's gaze "Oh, I think they used to make cars there. It hasn't been used in decades though"


	5. Chapter 4: Moments of Insanity

**Chapter 4: Moments of Insanity**

Ryan could hear the twins following again but he ignored them for the moment. By now he had stepped into the factory itself and was staring down from the walkway that ran along its upper level.

Below he could see nothing but the pillars that held the factory up and an old lift that hardly looked safe to use any longer.

"It's a wonder this place is still standing" Lucy muttered, stepping up beside him and testing the cables that hung down from the ceiling "Looks like the fastest way down, are we trying the lift?"

"Looks like it" Ryan replied, grabbing a cable himself and swinging down to land in front of the lift. He hit the button as the other two joined him and they all stepped in.

"Now what, the button won't work" Devin muttered, hitting the down button as they waited for something to happen.

"Maybe it doesn't work after all, we could always just look around this floor." Lucy answered, studying the rickety lift nervously.

"I'm sure it works" Ryan muttered, moving Devin out of the way so he could look at the button himself.

Before he could figure anything out though, the lift doors closed on their own and the lift itself dropped down a floor.

"Okay, something works anyway" Lucy muttered, rubbing her sore elbow as the doors slowly creaked open again "Why did we come here again?"

"To find her" Devin responded, pointing to a figure sitting at a computer screen in front of them.

"Cathy?" Ryan questioned, stepping out of the lift and into what appeared to be a large lab set up around the control panel in front of Cathy.

Cathy turned then, her eyes wild as she took in what had disturbed her work. For a moment she looked like a cornered animal ready to spring.

As Ryan and the twins moved closer a faint glimmer of recognition flashed in her violet eyes though and she made a sound that might have been welcoming.

"Cathy?" Lucy questioned this time, moving carefully to the older girl's side as Cathy returned to the computer.

Cathy was muttering to herself now, the sound barely more than a croak as her fingers flew across the keyboard. "No time…not time…he'll come back soon…I haven't even tested it…" the words seemed like crazed babbling, only have of them even intelligible.

Ryan moved to her other side, trying to decipher the chaos she had pulled up on the screen "What's going on Cathy? What is this?"

"My nightmare" she muttered, more to herself, as she finally shifted to look at her guests "Can you do something for me? I don't really have time to explain…"

She shook her head suddenly and moved away from the computer, seemingly growling to herself as her whole body shook with spasms.

"Cathy?" Ryan moved carefully between her and the computer, unsure why it was important but knowing he had to "What do you want us to do?"

Cathy blinked, her eyes flashing as she caught her breath and glanced up at them again "You'll really help?" She rubbed her head as she tried to process this new information, her eyes darting around as if looking for something "Go down to the scanners then, they're down one floor."

"Do we have to use the lift?" Lucy muttered, eyeing the dangerous thing.

Cathy pointed to a hatch against the wall before moving back to the computer, Ryan moving out of her way and going to inspect the hatch.

The twins followed him as he opened the hatch to reveal a ladder leading down to the next floor and one by one they made their way down.

"Isn't this just a little, I don't know, insane? What are we even doing down here?" Devin grumbled, glancing around this new room and taking in the three scanners.

"Well Cathy did look like she needed help…but I don't know, she seemed fine yesterday." Lucy replied, watching Ryan examine one of the scanners "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Not really, but it should be fun" Ryan replied, stepping into the scanner and turning to watch them.

"Okay fine, but after this you get to help me track down a scoop. I hear the gym teacher's got a thing for our principal" Lucy teased, stepping into the scanner opposite him while Devin climbed in the other.

* * *

Cathy's hands hovered over the keyboard while she stared blankly at the screen. _'I don't want to do this but what choice do I have? What are they even doing here?'_

She jumped at a sound behind her but it was only them moving on the lower floor. Slowly she relaxed back into the seat and pulled up the virtualization program she had dug up some rounds back.

_'__I sure hope this works, that Jeremy guy's manual is a mess…and XANA could turn up at any moment… All set now?'_ She dug the old paperback manual out from under the interface where she had hidden it from XANA and flipped it open in her lap.

_'__Jeez, my coding really is rusty…let's see…first I need to figure out which sector…'_ She opened another window and shifted through the manual to find the page on the superscan _'Here we go…just run this real quick…'_

Her eyes scanned the room now as she worked, afraid of XANA's touch. She shifted her gaze back to the screen as the window flashed and pinpointed the tower _'Mountain sector? Okay then…coordinates…'_

She was typing faster now, switching back to the virtualization program as she started it up _'Scan…Ryan… Scan…Devin… Scan…Lucy… Um…Virtualization…'_

She breathed a sigh of relief as the avatar cards and map appeared on the screen, turning her attention to the map now as she judged their position.

* * *

Ashal sighed as he felt the slight shift in energy, sitting down on the bench to wait for his train "Someone's on Lyoko now"

"My rival's work I'm sure" Demon replied, remaining invisible beside him and his cat "Are you happy now?"

"Not really, you know what will happen if XANA really is defeated"

"I won't let that happen" Demon growled, his eyes flashing red in the dark fog as it became visible beside Ashal.

Ashal grunted, getting up as he heard the call for his train "I'm still not sure even you can stop it."

Dusk padded at Ashal's feet as they wove through the crowd towards their destination, Demon dissipating again to fly invisible over the crowds.


	6. Chapter 5: Lyoko Warriors

**Chapter 5: Lyoko Warriors**

Ryan grunted as he landed on his hands and knees on what appeared to be a dull purple mountain platform. He carefully stood up and glanced around, taking note of the sword on his back now as he looked for the twins.

They had landed nearby and were already up examining themselves, seeming more interested in that than where they were. Ryan was slightly confused by it himself seeing as they now seemed to be part wolf.

"You have to hurry…the tower's nearby…just look for a red glow…and watch out for bloks…" Cathy's voice rang in the sky above them, still sounding slightly crazed as she rattled off instructions.

"Is this some kind of video game then? Why don't I have a weapon?" Devin spoke first, examining himself again and flicking his wrist slightly, and old habit of his when something confused him.

Ryan had drawn his sword to examine it a moment and raised it just in time to deflect a dart from Devin. "Watch where you're pointing that thing" Ryan muttered angrily, testing the sword's weight before turning to look for a tower.

Lucy stepped up beside him, an orb of pure energy hovering in her hand, and pointed to a shape in the distance "Is that the tower? It looks kinda reddish but it's hard to tell."

Ryan followed her gaze and nodded "Looks like it, guess we better get moving since Cathy's not responding."

The small group set off along the narrow platform then, all with weapons at the ready for whatever 'bloks' might attack.

* * *

Cathy groaned, holding her head against her chest as she fought the shadow off "Leave me alone! I won't let you touch the computer while they're in there!"

_'__Then I will remove them first' _a voice hissed in her ear, the shadow's fingers trailing up her arms _'You have no means to fight me child.'_

"Go away XANA!" she was nearly screaming now, huddling in a far corner of the lab to remove even the temptation of using the computer.

They could do it couldn't they? _'Lyoko warriors…'_ Cathy raised her head to look at the shadow, pain and defiance in her eyes "You'll never win XANA, how much longer are you planning on doing this?"

The shadow paused, a light chuckling surrounding it. _'Child, I have already won. I do not need this computer anymore and you are clearly a broken vessel. Perhaps it is time I find another…'_

"Leave them out of this!" Cathy growled but her will was fading, the time reversions taking their toll on her as she tried to fight off the darkness.

The last thing she saw was the shadow hovering over her again, a thin finger tracing up her arm as he said something she didn't catch.

_'__It is strange you have survived this long but that no longer matters…'_

* * *

Ashal leaned against the train window, wincing every time it bumped against the tracks. Dusk was curled on the seat beside him, preventing anyone else from joining him in the cramped compartment.

"Having fun? It'll be over soon anyway…my rival'll clean things up…"

Demon's voice came from the seat in front of Ashal and he briefly opened his eyes to look at the shadowy boy. "And who exactly is this rival you keep talking about?"

Demon smirked and peered out the window at the fast passing scenery "The soft light is her program title, she's the guardian of lyoko."

"What does that make you then?" Ashal muttered, his eyes closing again as another spasm shook him and his skin flashed from normal to grey.

Demon narrowed his eyes as he watched the boy, not responding for a moment. This boy was always a curiosity to him, why did humans behave so strangely? Finally he turned back to the window and muttered "I'm nothing, just a cast off they threw away. Much the same as you…"

Dusk hissed at the last comment but Ashal merely grunted, a sound that might have been taken as a laugh had he not been in so much pain. "Is that why you chose me then? Another cast off the world tried to get rid of?"

Demon said nothing more and turned back to the window, enjoying the chance to see more of the real world. Bound to Ashal he could only travel so far on his own.


	7. Chapter 6: Soft Light

**Chapter 6: Soft Light**

"So how do we kill these things?" Devin questioned from his perch atop a tall boulder. His new wolf ears were trained towards the mass of 'bloks' below, separating them from the red tower they had been told to find.

The platform they had followed had dead-ended at a large gap and down below, perhaps two or three feet straight down, was a separate platform with the tower in the middle surrounded by strange block-like creatures.

Ryan leaned over the edge, his sword sheathed for the moment as he tried to judge the danger. "I guess we'll find out when we get down there, you two cover me and I'll deal with the tower." he finally replied a second before leaping down to land on top of one of the 'bloks.'

The twins exchanged glances and shrugged before jumping down after him, both with weapons at the ready.

Ryan had drawn his sword again and made several slash attempts at the thing's top before leaping to another for more stable footing "No weak spot on top, and be careful because they spin."

Devin grunted as one of them attempted to throw him off then he took another leap and shot one of his darts straight through another's eye.

"I'd guess the eyes must be their weak spot." Lucy called back, her energy blast sending three of them flying off the edge of the platform "Or that works too."

Ryan nodded acknowledgement, having a strange game of hopscotch as he leapt across the bloks towards the tower while deflecting their lasers with his sword.

The twins worked through the outer edges of the horde, sometimes leaping across the monsters to make them attack each other, but always conscious of the edge at their backs. The bloks didn't seem all that tough, only shooting lasers that were fairly easy to dodge.

Ryan finally stopped as he reached the tower, leaping of the last blok and stabbing his sword into its eye. As the monster exploded in a flash of red he turned back to the tower and poked at it with his finger. _'So what do I do now? Oh…'_

He found his hand going through the wall as if it wasn't there and he carefully entered the tower before pausing again to look around. He was standing on a large platform that reminded him of the monsters eyes and different sections of it lit up as he neared the center before he suddenly found himself rising in the air.

"Whoa" the sound escaped as he finally landed on another, smaller platform and spotted a strange angel-girl standing in front of him.

"Welcome to Lyoko young warrior" the angel's voice was almost musical as she turned back to the center of the platform where a computer interface floated "I am the soft light that watches over this world and awaits the return of XANA…come, there is little time for introductions though. If you wish to save your friend then place your hand over the interface…"

Ryan blinked, sheathing his sword before padding up to the interface. His mind was full of questions but he knew now wasn't the time to ask them, Cathy needed him to do this for some reason.

He placed his palm against the interface and the screen changed, first his name flashing in the space above his hand then a code screen opened and typed in lyoko.

As the code faded from the screen and he removed his hand he turned to see the data files on the walls of the tower falling down towards the bottom to be restored.

The angel had vanished now, filling the tower with a soft light as her voice echoed around him "Now it is time you return to your own world, it is safe to take each other out as a means of devirtualizing."

Ryan found himself stepping out of the tower then and looked around to see that all the bloks were gone.

The twins made their way over to him and exchanged looks again. "So what now?" Lucy finally asked.

"We go back" Ryan replied, drawing his sword and turning to Devin "Seems the only way out is losing our life points."

"Not that we know how many we have anyway" Lucy muttered, an energy orb in her hand as they devirtualized each other.


	8. Chapter 7: Fading Memories

**Chapter 7: Fading Memories**

_Cathy floated in a strange dream world, not quite as dark as the world she had come to know as her mind but it still held no warmth for her._

_Inky blackness surrounded her on all sides, splashes of grey breaking through at times as something tried to break through the darkness._

_Time passed in a slow monotone, seemingly endless as she stared out at the blackness, at the nothingness. She should have been dead, she had done all she set out to do, it was up to the Lyoko Warriors to take care of the rest._

_Yet why was she here then? Barely conscious and clinging to life, did she still have some part to play in this mad game?_

_Suddenly the blackness around her thinned and colors flashed across her vision. As they settled she could make out a small neighborhood below her, a place that seemed vaguely familiar._

_"__It was here wasn't it? This place…This must be a memory…" The words sounded strange in the stale air as she felt her feet touching the ground "This was my home…"_

_She turned to gaze up at the old house, startled as a younger version of her walked out of the house and passed right through her._

_Cathy looked down at her body; she was barely even there, almost a ghost. "What is this? How much of this is real?"_

_She turned to follow the younger girl with her eyes as young-Cathy stumbled up the steps of another house and pounded on the door. She couldn't have been more than four or five, why was she even out here by herself?_

_The doorknob turned and the door slowly opened inwards as a young boy poked his head out. "Cathy! I knew you'd come!" the boy stepped backwards and young-Cathy stepped into the house after him, the door closing behind them._

_"__I don't remember this…when was this?" Cathy stepped up to the house after them and reached for the doorknob but her hand passed through it. She stepped through the door instead then and tried to follow the sound of the children running through the house._

_When she finally caught up to them they were in the backyard, the boy perched on a stone column and the young-Cathy sitting on the grass in front of him._

_"__But I don't want you to leave Ray! Can't you stay with us?" young-Cathy was begging, her voice trembling as tears stained her eyes "Or I could hide in the trunk and go with you."_

_"__No, no, you have to stay here. Dad just got reassigned, we'll come back someday…" the boy looked confused, fighting back his own tears as he watched her._

_Cathy was startled though, not by the conversation but by the name. "Ray…" she stared at the boy on the column and slowed stepped closer, her barely visible hands trembling "Ryan…"_

_"__Promise?" the young-Cathy stood up and wiped tears from her eyes with one hand while extending the other to the boy._

_The boy climbed off the column and nodded before extending his own hand. "Promise, we'll see each other again Cathy…you're the only one…"_

_The voices faded as Cathy finally reached out and touched the boy but she could still see them as they finished exchanging the pinkie promise before everything faded away into darkness again._

_"__You kept your promise Ryan…how could I have forgotten?" Cathy felt her mind slipping as the vision faded, her body beginning to fade along with it "But it's too late…I don't have any strength left…"_

_She looked down at her hands, her emotions numb as she watched them disintegrate into sparks of light "I'm sorry…I helped start this whole mess…"_

_"__You are not to blame for XANA's return, you were merely used as another pawn in XANA's plans…his return was inevitable…"_

_Cathy turned her head to follow the new voice and saw a boy had appeared who looked older than her. In his arms he carried a black cat and around him swirled a thick fog of darkness, blacker even than the blackness around her._

_The boy made a move towards her but he seemed to hesitate and finally the dark fog around him reached out and touched her._

_"__You are a Lyoko Warrior too…this war is far from over…"_

_She couldn't be sure if the boy or the darkness had spoken but as soon as it touched her they both vanished and a new voice echoed around her. A familiar voice that she hadn't expected to hear again, Ryan was calling for her._

* * *

Ryan was the first out of the scanner, stumbling slightly as he dashed over to the ladder.

"Slow down" Lucy muttered, leaning her head against the wall of her scanner as she tried to get her breath back.

Across from her Devin looked equally worn but he stumbled out of the scanner and followed Ryan anyway "Come on, he's dead set on seeing this through."

"Ugh" Lucy grumbled, rubbing her aching head before following the boys "Bad word choice, you're lucky he isn't listening."

Devin muttered something inaudible in response before climbing up the ladder after Ryan, Lucy following behind as they headed back up to the lab.

When they got there they could see Cathy slumped against one wall, black burn marks covering what was visible of her arms and legs. She was unearthly still, her skin so pale she could have been mistaken for a ghost.

Ryan dashed over to her and dropped to his knees while the twins just stood in shock, what in the world had they gotten themselves into?


	9. Chapter 8: Resolution

**Chapter 8: Resolution**

"Cathy? Cathy, please wake up!" Ryan's voice was almost anguished and the twins could barely watch.

"We did everything we could Ryan…" Lucy started, moving closer to him as she spoke but she stopped suddenly and stared at Cathy "What in the world?"

A dark fog had appeared around Cathy, almost as though it was holding her in place and it was much deeper and darker than any shadow they had ever seen.

The fog reached out, almost searching for something, and suddenly Ryan slumped against the wall next to Cathy.

"Ryan? Cathy?" Lucy dropped down beside them as the fog disappeared, letting out a faint sigh as she heard the shallow breaths of the two.

"They seem to be alright but what was that thing?" Devin asked, dropping down beside his sister to check on the two.

"I don't know" Lucy muttered, eyeing the room nervously to make sure it didn't come back "But I sure hope it's on our side."

* * *

"Why exactly are we helping them?" Demon questioned as the train slowed to a stop at the main Paris station.

Ashal grunted, rising to his feet as the train stopped and picking up Dusk "Do I need a reason?" His eyes darkened as he left the cramped compartment and exited the train "What would you prefer to do?"

Demon sighed, dissipating into fog and switching to telepathy as he floated over the boy. _'I prefer nothing; my only desire is to keep you alive.'_

"Just so you can stay here though, what do you even want with the real world?" Ashal continued, not caring if he got strange looks for talking aloud. The telepathy gave him headaches and he was still recovering from the XANA attack as it was.

Dusk squirmed in his arms, making herself more comfortable as they wove through the crowds towards the bus stop.

_'__Am I not allowed a life? You humans think only of yourselves, I merely wanted to rebel against my 'programing.'_

"Right, regardless we need to find that computer as soon as we get to the school. Can you handle that?"

_'__Do not take me for a fool; I have no desire to return to that cursed world.'_

"Nor do I but XANA might have other plans, would you prefer to leave him to run amuck?"

Demon growled, swirling closer to Ashal as they settled down on the bench to wait for the bus. _'He will not have you; if he chooses to interfere then I will dispose of him myself.'_

"Sure, if only it were that easy…" Ashal let Dusk jump onto the bench beside him and turned to watch the sky "It's dark out now…it sure has been a long day…"

Demon watched him, his red eyes flashing as he settled back into his human form on the opposite end of the bench.

"We're already in this mess, what choice do we really have?" Ashal yawned, checking his watch before curling onto the bench beside Dusk "Bus doesn't run again 'til morning."

Demon watched him a moment longer before taking to the sky again, partially keeping his human form this time as he leapt onto a nearby rooftop. _'True there is a war here that we cannot avoid but we cannot fight either. XANA will win this battle either way…'_

He sighed, turning his bright red eyes up to seek out the light of the moon floating as a thin sliver above while he let his body take on its true form. The dark fog condensed further as the demon-cat creature stretched his wings and clawed at the sky.

_'__The choice then is who will win the war…and that is our choice… I suppose we must help them then…these Lyoko Warriors…'_

* * *

_Ryan could see the fog for a split second before his vision blurred and he found himself floating in a dark empty space._

_"__She is here…if you desire to save her then you must heal her shattered soul…broken soul…broken vessel…knight lights the way…"_

_Ryan twisted but couldn't find the source of the voice, the darkness was completely empty. "Who are you? Where's Cathy?" he shouted his questions to the emptiness, trying to find something, anything, to break the endless black._

_"__She opened the hatch_

_Stepping into endless black_

_A mind ravaged again and again_

_Left to repeat a single day_

_While he, the boy in shadow_

_Looked on in annoyance_

_Red eyes flashing as he debated_

_The claws of the fox_

_Dipped in violence and lies_

_Only the darkness binds the shattered_

_Leaving empty vessels and fractured minds_

_Programs designed only to rebel_

_And memories stripped away."_

_Ryan shook his head, confused by the cryptic lines, but as the voice faded away he caught a faint glimmer of light not far off._

_"__Cathy!" he moved towards the light as fast he could, feeling almost like he was swimming through the darkness._

_Cathy's eyes fluttered weakly, she was transparent and barely conscious. "Ray…I'm sorry…how could I have forgotten?" her voice was weak, hardly more than a whisper, and her eyes closed again even as she tried to speak "The little soldier boy across the street…promise…"_

_"__Cathy, you'll be alright…just…just tell me what happened…" Ryan grabbed what was left of her hand as she continued to fade, she had finally remembered._

_Cathy's eyes fluttered again as she tried to focus on him "Ray…XANA…where did he go? I shouldn't have…turned on that…stupid supercomputer… You have to…stop him…"_

_"__We'll stop him together Cathy" Ryan promised, tears staining his eyes "But right now we have to go home." Light flashed around him as he wrapped her in a hug, willing her fading spirit to reignite._

_The light strengthened, completely engulfing them as the blackness around them fragmented into strange images. They almost seemed like still shots of different memories but whose memory was the question._

_Bright blue lightning flashed, nearly pure white as it ripped across the images and leapt hungrily towards the cocoon of light._

_"__Remember my warning knight of light, not all darkness is evil and not all light good."_

_It was the same voice Ryan had heard when he first entered this strange world but now it seemed fainter, more distant, and before he could question it the lightning ripped into his back and the world shattered into dozens of glittering pieces._


End file.
